Mobile Phones Guide

Motorola RAZR - Keeping it Sharp

Keeping it Sharp and Thin

After Motorola's foray into Xoom-s, Atrix-es, and Defy, it is back to square one with a familiar namesake, the RAZR. The current RAZR holds some similarities with its past iteration; off the bat, there's a lot of effort placed into making the phone look good but otherwise, this new family member shares more similarities with its top-end Android Atrix siblings.

Key highlights of the Motorola RAZR

Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread

1.2GHz dual-core processor

1GB RAM

Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, WiFi hotspot

4.3-inch Super AMOLED Advanced touchscreen / 540 x 960 pixels

8-megapixel camera / LED flash + 1.3-megapixel HD webcam

16GB + microSD expansion(up to 32GB)

1780mAh battery

127g

131 x 69 x 7.1mm

Price and Availability: S$888 (available from November 11 2011)

Hardware aside, the RAZR has a few tricks up its sleeve in the software aspect of things. One of the more talked about feature is its new MotoCast app, which allows you to host your files on your own personal cloud and provides secure remote access to content on your PC. Sounds familiar? The MotoCast app will be available on future top-end Motorola handsets as well as on the Atrix 2 (sadly, the original Atrix doesn't get the same treatment); for the latter, representatives have been tight-lipped on when it will happen although they did mention that they were considering whether to make it available as an app in the Android market. The RAZR also comes well-balanced with productivity features, including a GoToMeeting app pre-installed.

How Motorola's RAZR Compares with the Competition

Specifications

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Motorola RAZR

iPhone 4S

Operating System / User Interface

Google Android 4.0

Google Android 2.3.5 / Motorola RAZR UI

iOS 5

Processor

1.2GHz dual-core

1.2GHz dual-core

Apple A5 Dual-Core 1GHz

Built-in Memory

1GB RAM

1GB RAM

512MB RAM

Display

4.65-inch, 1280 x 720 HD Super AMOLED Display

4-3-inch, 960 x 540 Super AMOLED Advanced Display

3.5-inch, 640 x 960 TFT capacitive IPS touchscreen

Camera

5-megapixel / Autofocus / LED flash / 1080p@30fps video recording

1.3-megapixel for Video Call

8-megapixel / Autofocus / LED flash / 1080p@30fps video recording

1.3-megapixel for Video Call

8-megapixel / Autofocus / LED flash / 1080p@30fps video recording

VGA front facing camera

Storage

16/32GB (no storage expansion options)

16GB + microSD expansion (up to 32GB)

16/32/64GB (no storage expansion options)

Battery

1750mAh

1780mAh

1432mAh

Dimensions

135.5 x 67.94 x 8.94mm

131 x 69 x 7.1mm

115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3mm

Weight

135g

127g

140g

As you can see, it is a close fight between the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Motorola RAZR in terms of key hardware specifications (1.2GHz dual-core, 1GB RAM, Super AMOLED screen) with the major differences lying in the software and physical features of each phone. If you prefer the look of the RAZR and want a 8-megapixel camera, it is probably important to know that the Android 2.3 device will not get the ICS update anytime soon and only possibly early next year. We haven't had the chance to play with the Galaxy Nexus yet, but it is apparent that both phones are vastly different in appearances.

If you are looking for a phone outfitted with a bigger screen with higher resolution (Galaxy Nexus - 4.65-inch, 1280 x 720; RAZR - 4.3-inch, 960 x 540) and the latest Android 4.0 OS, there's absolutely no question on which to purchase especially if both smartphones are almost head-to-head in terms of prices (Galaxy Nexus - around €649, most likely with VAT inclusive; RAZR - SGD$888). Of course, as per experience, phones with similar specs often show different performance results when you put them to benchmarking and battery tests, so do keep in mind that our observations here are based on the specs list and only scratch the surface of things. Stay tuned as we bring you full reviews on each of them real soon.

The Motorola RAZR is set to hit Singapore from 11th November onwards at all three local telcos with a RRP of $888 (including GST). The smartphone is compatible with a select number of accessories including the new Lapdock 100. Prices of these accessories are not available as of yet but the good news is that they will definitely be retailing in Singapore.